how does priceline work?

[CZAR]

friends have told me but........if they find u a cheap flight,,and u have to stop several times,or wat if the times suck!!! its like they wont tell u the flight times until u sort of purchase the ticket..is that right? i got a total for $244 round trip to vegas,,but it can be at anytime during the 4 day span and god who knows wat times.....etc am i missin something? this way sucks!

[Trossi3389]

CZAR i took the .com out of your heading..

Hope you get answers.

[Bobtheicon]

I got a helluva Vegas trip a couple years ago.
I was on the site just screwing around thinking they would never accept my offer - but they did: 2 RT tickets from Atlanta, 3 nights at the Venetian for $800!!! - What a deal!!!
The only drawback was a 3 hour layover on one of the stops, otherwise it was great!!
But, yes it is a gamble as to what flights you will get. And you can't cancel - once your offer is accepted your credit card is charged.
But what the hell. Just start making ridiculously low offers so if you get one your flights won't matter.

Good Luck!!

[jonnyblaze]

You put in the how much you want pay. Then, put in what days you want. Put in some other varibles, and its like a blind auction. If they find a match, your obligated to buy it no matter what it is. For instance, if there is a 4 hour layover, so be it, the ticket matched your price. You can limit this by selecting your varibles.

It sounds hard but its not. And you can get a ticket cross county for like $150.

[BigNuttsSpartanFan]

I copied this from another website forum. All credit goes to "Wavek9" there. I just copied and pasted. Great info here guys.


Before you try this I will give a risk factor for the method you choose to go with.

No Risk: Use MBNA Credit Card or CitiBank Online Safe Shop feature which will allow you to create your own virtual temporary credit card number which you can just assign $1.00 to and it will get decline since there will be insufficient funds. OR get an expired credit card or debit card number that you may have as long as it doesn't match your current number and then just make up a date which should get declined. OR use an account number that you already closed and is no longer available for use which should also get declined.

Little Risk: Use a visa/mastercard gift card and make sure to already spend some of the money off the card so there should be about a $20 or less on it so priceline will have to decline the card since there will be no funds on it.

Somewhat Risky: Use your own credit card number but just change that expiration and 3 digit could which should fail when being authorized BUT there is some slight chance it could go through depending on your bank. (You could technically dispute this charge and say you never placed this order since there will be a different name that placed the order with your credit card company. There are a few bullshit stories you could make up such as blaming a MINOR such as a brother, sister, cousin, nephew, your friend's kids screwed around on the computer and purchased something with your authorization. That's one example.) If that doesn't work you can always just call up priceline and ask them to change the reservation name to your own name so make sure you make note of the bullshit information you put on there if credit card company blows you off which usually they don't.

Risky: Use a debit card but make sure there is a zero balance on your debit card or very little money on it ($5.00) such as a paypal card. Paypal usually declines transactions but depending what you purchase paypal will sometimes let it go through as well. Make sure to contact your bank and see if they CAP your account so you can't go over what you dont' have. Some banks don't cap and that will cause a negative balance which will cause an overage charge.

NOTES: If you can't get a virtual temporary card then I recommend testing this out with your REAL information first and a fake expiration number and code. Only try it for ONE NIGHT only so at the worst you will only have to pay for one night and you don't have to go through the hassle of calling up priceline or your credit card company.

TIPS: This won't allow you to choose a specific hotel brand BUT instead this will allow you to get the star rating you desire. Reason why you search for lower rating hotels in your area is because priceline asks you to enter a second location each time you are asked to resubmit your offer. So if you pick an area which has a lower rating than your desired rating then you won't get that area since you will still have your 3 star or above checked on the list. (Don't check the lower rated stars just the ZONE to satisfy priceline.) People seem to call this rebidding I took it one step further with the credit card error which will allow you to know when your offer has been accepted.

WEBSITES: Check these websites to help you bid on your hotel: www.betterbidding.com | www.flyertalk.com | http://p070.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding | www.BIDDINGFORTRAVEL.com

FINAL NOTES: I don't take any responsibility if you happen to get charged on your account. It has never charged me but a select few have had their accounts go through so try this out at your own risk and read the risk factors so you can understand how to protect yourself. Please feel free to read this this entire thread to see what comments people have and suggestions. I have given suggestions on how to dispute this and how to protect yourself so if something goes wrong you won't be out by much.

THANKS: I thank all the people who posted in here and shared their input and hopefully you will get a good price on priceline. This is my final post in this thread so thanks for looking and good luck.

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This will work on all the areas of priceline where you can name your own price but below I will describe it with hotels. I have been able to get the lowest price on hotels this way many times. I have stayed at a Sheraton Suites for $30 a night and also at Radisson, Marriot, Four Points, and Regular Sheratons which were all considered 3 star hotels.

This is how it is done and it may require some work but this will get you the lowest price possible. I did this sample as selecting an only specific area with 3 stars but if you have multiple areas with 3 stars then that will obviously increase your chances. If you run out of crappy areas (2 1/2 and below) then just make another fake id again.

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SO LETS BEGIN ON GETTING A HOTEL FOR LESS:

1. Type the City of Interest
2. Try to get a major city such as Atlanta, GA
3. Figure out which areas have hotels for 2 1/2 stars or lower
(Just simply check a box and hit next and then hit the back button)
4. Select the area with 3 stars you want to stay at.
5. Name your price at $25.00
6. Enter a made up name you can remember such as John Smith
7. It may ask you again for price so hit the SKIP PAGE
8. Enter the initials of John Smith which would be JS

Now the fun part begins

9. Enter a real credit card number BUT WITH A FAKE EXPIRATION DATE and CODE
(This will prevent priceline from charging your account)
10. Name: John Smith
11. Billing: Address 20 John Lane
12. City: Beverly Hills, CA 90210
13. Phones 555-123-4567
14. Email johnsmith@fakeemail.com
15. Click BUY MY HOTEL ROOM NOW

This is where it will do the search but your result may
end up being "We're sorry, but we couldn't find a hotel..."

So this is where we try again.

16. Remember those 2 1/2 stars and lower hotels you picked?
17. Select one of those crappy hotels with your checked 3 star selection
18. Enter this time $35.00 and click NEXT
19. Then click Skip this PAGE
20. Initial it JS and click buy my hotel

You will increment the hotel price by $5.00 each time
until accepted and repeating steps 16 to 20.

How do you now your price was accepted? Simple they will
have an error trying to process your card when they have
found a hotel that accepts your price. They will ask you
to enter your credit card information again where this time
you will make a note of the price accepted and then sign
up with your real name and account information.

Example of message:
"We're sorry, the card you provided is expired or the expiration date you entered does not match..."

21. After you see this message just CLOSE ALL INTERNET WEBPAGES.
22. Go back to priceline.com and name your own price for the hotel
23. Select the hotel you guessed correctly for.
24. Enter the winning price and real info from now on.

You will get an error though after you submit your price which will be:
"We were not able to process this request since our records indicate you have already made a request for this same trip."

This is okay just simply add an area with a crappy hotel but with your 3 star still selected and repeat the process.

This time it will run your purchase through and you just got the lowest price on priceline.

[peznt]

The biddingfortravel web site has a lot of information on using Price Line to your best advantage, will save you time and money when you are bidding for airfare, hotels etc.
Read the FAQ's. Very important, you only get a couple of chances to bid on Priceline then you have to wait 24 hrs to rebid.
Thanks Big!

peznt